The finish is not what makes or breaks a guitar for me. But it does play a part in which guitars I try. Satin, Gloss, Burst all look god to me. I try to play before I guy and go with what sounds the best. I have both a satin and gloss finish guitars, but no bursts.

Passing through Mississippi one time, I stopped in a smallish town to do some laundry. Outside the laundromat was sitting a crusty old bird, playing some Blues licks, his beat up parlor sporting a mottled burst. More strange was that the skin of his arm was sticking to its body, as if its surface were tacky. While we chatted, he noticed my looking. 'See this beautiful amber coloring?', he asked. 'It's real honey. Makes me play better when I can actually taste my licks!' Folks look at me strange when I tell this story, but c'est la vie.

You weren't by chance anywhere near a "Crossroads" were you. BTW, my heart flames for a good burst.

My dads guitars were Harmony Broadways. Between the nice f holes and arch tops, the sunbursts on these were very nice. To me{I was about 10} these guitars were like well built furniture. I still remember just staring at these guitars. The ones he had were made pretty well put together{they were 1950's guitars}. A few too many drinking parties{theirs, not mine} left these guitars in the trash heap. I still remember being told to throw that damm busted guitar out. They don't all make it to vintage status. But I'll never forget the sunburst finish. At the moment, for some reason,I don't own a sunburst.

I'm not particularly pro or con bursts and would never pay more for one. I like some of them and currently have one guitar with a burst. But I also love a nice natural top. The burst I have (Gibson SJ-200 True Vintage) was based on tone preference rather than appearance and there was no mark-up for the burst version.